Customers find the doors locked and a sign explaining why the store closed early, Tuesday, May 29, 2018, in Sacramento, Calif. Starbucks closed more than 8,000 stores nationwide Tuesday to conduct anti-bias training, the next of may steps the company is taking to try to restore its tarnished image as a hangout where all are welcome. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
The global coffee chain is set to explore "new concepts such as ownership and community-based membership models" and will launch non-fungible tokens - which operates almost as a one-of-a-kind trading card and at their highest level are part of Ethereum cryptocurrency - as a "new digital collectible" to customers.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said: "[We are] adding new concepts such as ownership and community-based membership models that we see developing in the Web 3 space. Imagine acquiring a new digital collectible from Starbucks, where that product also serves as your access pass to a global Starbucks community, one with engaging content experiences and collaboration all centered around coffee."
A blog post further explained the concept of being able to offer a "broad potential" when it comes to customer loyalty as the coffee shop giant aims to create a "digital ecosystem" with the innovation.
It reads: "We believe NFTs have broad potential to create an expanded, shared-ownership model for loyalty, the offering of unique experiences, community building, storytelling, and customer engagement.
"And, while doing so also being a source of accretive business that can benefit a number of stakeholders in the process, while creating a new type of digital ecosystem to complement Starbucks current digital platform offering.
"We plan to create a series of branded NFT collections, the ownership of which initiates community membership, and allows for access to exclusive experiences and perks.
"The themes of these collections will be born of Starbucks artistic expressions, both heritage and newly created, as well as through world-class collaborations with other innovators and like-minded brands."
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